EHS Lead, Data Centers - Verda

At Verda, we're building a fully featured European AI cloud, covering everything needed to train, experiment with, and deploy AI models at scale. We are a full-stack AI infrastructure company, meaning we design, operate, and optimize the compute powering modern AI workloads across training and inference. Our infrastructure runs on 100% renewable energy, helping build a more sustainable AI ecosystem. Join Verda while it’s still being built - not once it’s finished. Verda is expanding its data center footprint across Europe at pace - new sites in Germany, France, Spain, the UK, and Finland, spanning both construction and live 24/7 operations. Every one of those sites carries real physical risk: high-voltage power, high-density racks, liquid cooling, heavy plants, and people working around all of it at every hour of the day. We’re looking for an EHS Lead to own that risk. This is a build-from-scratch mandate: you will define the health and safety framework for our data centers, embed it across every site as we grow, and - just as importantly - build the culture that makes it stick. You’ll be the person who makes "everyone goes home safe" a lived standard rather than a poster on the wall. Build our data center health & safety management system from the ground up: policies, standard operating procedures, risk assessments, permit-to-work, lockout/tagout, and permit control - fit for both construction and live operations. Establish the safety culture. Design onboarding, training, toolbox talks, and behavioural safety programs that get engineers, technicians, and contractors genuinely bought in, not just compliant. Own multi-site, multi-country compliance. Ensure each site meets EU and national occupational health & safety regulation, and keep us audit-ready as we enter new jurisdictions. Lead incident management: investigation, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and disciplined follow-up - and turn what we learn into prevention across the whole estate. Manage contractor and construction safety through the build and fit-out phases, holding vendors and partners to our standards on site. Own emergency preparedness and fire safety planning, and make sure every site knows exactly what to do when something goes wrong. Report to management on leading and lagging safety metrics, risks, and trends - and drive the corrective action when something is heading the wrong way. Partner closely with Data Center Operations, expansion project managers, and facilities teams so safety is designed in from day one, not bolted on later. What We’re Looking For: 7+ years in an EHS or health & safety role within data centers, critical facilities, construction, heavy industry, or another high-hazard, mission-critical environment. Proven track record of building safety programs and management systems from scratch - not just administering an existing one. Strong working knowledge of EU and/or national occupational health & safety regulation, and the ability to get up to speed quickly in new jurisdictions. Demonstrated ability to shape culture and influence behaviour across technicians, engineers, contractors, and leadership - the soft skills matter as much as the technical ones here. Solid grasp of the physical hazards in a critical facility: electrical safety, working at height, mechanical plant, and confined spaces. A relevant qualification such as NEBOSH (Diploma or equivalent), IOSH membership, or a national equivalent. Strong written and verbal English. Strong Plus: Hands-on data center, hyperscale, or HPC experience, including high-density racks, high-voltage electrical safety, and liquid cooling. Construction-phase safety experience (e.g., CDM or national equivalents) across new-build and fit-out. Experience running safety across multiple European countries at once. ISO 45001 implementation or Lead Auditor certification. Experience building safety processes from scratch in a fast-growing company. Practicalities: Work mode: Based in Helsinki or a European hub. Travel: Regular travel to our data center sites across the EU and UK. Employment type: Full-time and permanent. What's Next: If this sounds like your next move, apply now. Please submit your application through our Careers page. We don't accept applications sent by email.